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10 Great Thrillers set in PARIS
20th November 2024
Ten great thrillers set in Paris. Paris, a city of romance and elegance, also hides a darker side. Thrillers set in the City of Lights often delve into its shadowy underbelly, exploring themes of corruption, art crime, and political intrigue. From the winding streets of the Marais to the opulent mansions of the 16th arrondissement, the city provides a stunning backdrop for suspenseful narratives. Here are ten of our favourites;
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
IN THE HUNT FOR A SPY, HE EXPOSED A CONSPIRACY. The winner of the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2014, this is a gripping historical thriller from Robert Harris – Sunday Times bestselling author of Fatherland and The Ghost. Paris, 1895: an army officer, Georges Picquart, watches a convicted spy, Alfred Dreyfus, being publicly humiliated in front of a baying crowd. Dreyfus is exiled for life to Devil’s Island; Picquart is promoted to run the intelligence unit that tracked him down. But when Picquart discovers that secrets are still being handed over to the Germans, he is drawn into a dangerous labyrinth of deceit and corruption that threatens not just his honour but his life…
Turf Wars by Olivier Norek
The summary execution of three dealers – one murdered in full view of a police surveillance team – is the signal for hell to be unleashed in France’s most notorious suburb.
Now there’s a new kingpin in charge, using his ruthless teenage enforcer to assert an iron grip on his territory. And the local mayor, no stranger to the criminal underworld, is willing to make a pact with the devil if it will secure her a third term.
Enter Capitaine Coste and his team, ready to break the rules to prevent the drugs squad from throwing an elderly stash-minder to the lions as bait. But when the blue touchpaper is lit on the estates, it will be all they can do to save their own skins from the inferno.
Once again, Norek draws on all his experience as a police officer in France’s capital of crime – the same experience he drew on as a writer for the hit TV series Spiral – making Turf Wars the most authentic crime novel you’ll read all year.
Intrigue in Paris by Vee Williams Garcia
Bluesette “Blue” Stills, a magazine editor from Washington, DC, arrives at her sassy jazz singer friend Nareen Anderson’s apartment in Paris, France, ready to start her vacation. But shock and disappointment grip her when Nareen acts strange and suddenly vanishes! Blue enlists the help of another friend in Paris, Eddie Proctor, a tour guide. Eddie sticks with Blue through a police investigation into Nareen’s disappearance: while keeping his tour groups on schedule. With Nareen’s disappearance and the adventures of Eddie’s tour groups, Blue and Eddie are caught up in tension, romance, crime and passion on both sides of the Seine River.
Improvising their way through surprising and dangerous situations, the characters in INTRIGUE IN PARIS drive this story steadily towards an exciting resolution.
Kill Shot by Vince Flynn
For months, Mitch Rapp has been steadily working his way through a list of the men responsible for the slaughter of 270 civilians including his own girlfriend in the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing – bullet by bullet. His next target – a Libyan diplomat – should be easy. Prone to drink and currently in Paris without a bodyguard, Rapp quickly tracks the man down and sends a bullet into his skull while he’s sleeping. But in the split second it takes the bullet to leave the silenced pistol, everything changes. The door to the hotel room is kicked open and gunfire erupts all around Rapp. When the news breaks that Libya’s Oil Minister has been killed along with three innocent civilians and four unidentified men, the French authorities are certain that the gunman is wounded and still on the loose in Paris. As the finger-pointing begins, Rapp’s handlers have only one choice – deny any responsibility for the incident and race to do damage control. Rapp has become a liability, and he must not be taken alive by the French authorities. But alone in Paris, on the run from the authorities and from his own employers, Mitch Rapp must prepare to fight for his life.
Ominous: Borders: Coffee by Peter Standish Evans
Set in PARIS, this thriller surges ominously through the psyche of modern Europe. Conflict is rife: danger is everywhere. You will be tempted to trawl through Paris, to drink in the bars, or smoke on dark street corners. Be warned… watch your back… Inspector Vasseur has his favourite table on a battered sidewalk. Alone he sits on hot summer nights, allowing his instincts to grapple with the mysterious case of innocent deaths along the River Seine. In other parts of the city, the Stalker trails her female targets, hell-bent on seduction: the Baker clings to his French traditions despite the temptations of the world around him: two beautiful women set up a coffee society – one leaves the prison of her insular creativity and the other relishes life in all its forms. They bring out the very evil in some, and the pursuit of romance in others. In this tightly plotted novel, borders are stormed, emotional, sexual, and psychotic: and borders weave danger around lovers of coffee, the creative, and the finest of foods. Discover why author Peter Standish Evans holds a deserved and special place amongst the new breed of thriller writers.
Paris in the Dark by Robert Olen Butler
Autumn 1915. The First World War is raging across Europe. Woodrow Wilson has kept Americans out of the trenches, although that hasn’t stopped young men and women from crossing the Atlantic to volunteer at the front. Christopher Marlowe ‘Kit’ Cobb, a Chicago reporter and undercover agent for the US government is in Paris when he meets an enigmatic nurse called Louise. Officially in the city for a story about American ambulance drivers, Cobb is grateful for the opportunity to get to know her but soon his intelligence handler, James Polk Trask, extends his mission.
Paris Requiem by Lisa Appignanesi
Paris 1899. The city is a glittering hub of fin-desiecle activity. Theatres and galleries are vibrant with artistic energy. The new metro is under construction, and so is the site for the centennial Universal Exhibition. But there is also violent political upheaval. The Dreyfus Affair has released a riotous surge of anti-semitism. Asylums and jails are overcrowded. Death and madness hover like a cloud over the city. Bostanian lawyer James Norton has been sent by his mother to bring back his Invalid sister Ellie and his younger brother Raf, a Journalist. But the violent deaths of the actress Olympe Fabre and then of her sister judith in the asylum of Salpetriere, draw the siblings into a dark web of violence. Olympe is pregnant. Is her death a crime passionnel or part of a conspiracy of serial killings of Jewish women, disturbingly linked to medical research at Salpetriere? A gripping psychological period thriller.
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
One of the most celebrated thrillers ever written, The Day of the Jackal is the exhilarating story of the struggle to catch a killer before it’s too late.
1963. An anonymous Englishman is hired by the Operations Chief of French terrorist organisation O.A.S. to murder the French president, General Charles de Gaulle. A failed attempt in the previous year means the target will be nearly impossible to reach.
Only one man could do the job: an assassin of legendary talent known only as The Jackal.
This remorseless and deadly killer must be stopped. But he is a man without a name, without an identity; a lethal spectre.
How can you stop an assassin nobody can identify? The task falls to the best detective in France – and the price of failure is unthinkable . . .
The Messenger by Megan Davis
Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite his father mingles with. But the two have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price – and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever.
A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex’s father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences.
Playing out against a backdrop of corruption, fake news and civil unrest, The Messenger exposes the gritty reality of a changing city through one son’s journey to redemption and the truth.
The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier
As a child, Catherine Monsigny was the only witness to a heinous crime. Now, she is an ambitious rookie attorney in sophisticated modern-day Paris. On the side, she does pro bono work and hits the jackpot: a major felony case that could boost her career. A black woman is accused of poisoning her rich farmer husband in a peaceful village in central France, where the beautiful, rolling hills hold dark secrets. While preparing the case, Catherine’s own past comes back with a vengeance. This fast- paced story follows Catherine’s determined search for the truth in both her case and her own life. Who can she believe? And can you ever escape from your past? The story twists and turns, combining subtle psychological insight with a detailed sense of place.
We hope you enjoy our selection of thrillers set in Paris.
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